PLANS to build new family homes on the site of a York car park have been submitted, despite former nurses’ quarters laying empty and derelict only yards away.

York Hospitals NHS Trust has submitted the plans to build four four-bedroom properties on the site at Union Terrace, near Clarence Street.

The site currently houses 39 parking spaces used by nearby York Hospital, but if plans are given the go-ahead the car park will be replaced by four three-storey terraced houses with on-site parking and garden space.

Brian Golding, associate director of estates and facilities for York Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, confirmed the Trust was looking into other uses for the site. “We are putting together a plan for how we can develop our site in the future, and once the multi-storey car park is completed the car park area just off Union Terrace is unlikely to feature in these plans,” he said.

“We are exploring the market to see how we might best maximise the value of this site, should we choose to declare it surplus on completion of the car park.”

The plans claim the buildings have been designed to make good use of the available land without overdeveloping, and said the development would “not only reinstate the original terraced view along Union Terrace but will also provide excellent family homes in the heart of an historic city”.

Nearby Bootham Park Court, formerly accommodation for nurses, has been empty since 2008. Since then, the 200 flats and houses have fallen into such disrepair it is likely to cost £5 million to return them to an inhabitable condition.

Mr Golding said the Trust was discussing options for the former accommodation with the council.

He said: “City of York Council is still considering whether it is viable to house people in Bootham Park Court on a short term basis.”